Over the past few weeks, I have fallen back into an obsession with Shonda Rhimes’ show Scandal, a political thriller TV series that aired on ABC from 2012 to 2018. The show revolves around crisis manager Olivia Pope and her team of complicated yet likeable associates working in Washington D.C. Together, the team takes on high-profile clients in trouble, using investigative efforts and refined communication skills to devise creative solutions.
In its fourth season, Scandal amassed an average of 12.66 million viewers and was ranked as the top prime-time show among Black viewers. Scandal isn’t the only political TV series that has captured viewers’ interest. The West Wing, House of Cards, and Designated Survivor, to name a few, have dominated ratings for years. Chalk-full of drama, romance, and character development, it is unsurprising that these shows are a commercial success, but is there something more that keeps pulling viewers in?
1. Psychological Appeal
Political thrillers often involve high stakes and great suspense like national security threats, betrayals, and enormous decisions. This gives life to universal curiosity and fear, both generally and about politics and government.
2. Emotional Appeal
Plotlines often give light to complex power dynamics that are inherently compelling. Topics addressed in these shows such as corruption, conflict, and democracy, often mirror real-life concerns. Viewers can interact with these themes and high-stress situations from a distance that feels comfortable, a form of escapism in a way.
3. Social and Cultural Appeal
People, arguably Americans specifically, are intrigued by what happens behind the doors of the White House, and the workings of agencies, political campaigns, and more. Whether or not these shows accurately shed light on those things is debatable, however, they often reflect real-life political tensions in some capacity, stimulating important internal and community discussions.
This last part is what I find most captivating about political thriller viewership. Shows like Scandal can inspire political engagement, voting, and interest in public service. Seeing it play out on our screens reminds us of our political realities, prompting us to, in the least, think about the politics and government decisions and actors that mold our everyday lives. They might also help us better understand government complexity. These fictional plots, characters, and conflicts have the potential to shed light on how nuanced and complicated policymaking and diplomacy can be. Furthermore, these shows might heighten our empathy for public servants. Catching a glimpse of the time and effort their work requires humanizes political figures.
However, there are several drawbacks to these shows as well. These series often contain highly exaggerated plots that incorporate deception, betrayal, and conspiracy. Ultimately, this might reinforce distrust between people and the government. On a similar note, the conflicts frequently depicted in these shows might skew expectations of how the government does (or should) function. Response to crisis and conflict management as shown in these series might not paint a fair or truthful picture of reality. Furthermore, constantly showing governmental dysfunction might leave viewers feeling frustrated and unmotivated to engage.
It is because of these influences, both positive and negative, that we are reminded why media literacy is so critical. As thrilling as these shows often are, we must remember that the stories within them are often highly dramatized. We should not, in good conscience, allow these shows and their characters to mold our expectations and beliefs about contemporary politics and government. Differentiating fiction from real political processes emphasizes why being a critical consumer of political media is vital.
The average American spends just over seven hours looking at a screen every day, and that time is even higher (although only slightly) for children between ages 8 and 18. Cultivating and nurturing media literacy skills heightens our empathy, interpersonal understanding, and critical thinking skills that are essential to civic and political engagement, and life in general. While the blurring of reality and fiction is what in part makes these political dramas so alluring, it might arguably delude and mislead us.
Simply put, we are impacted by the media we consume. Whether it be hard news, social media posts, or our favorite TV series like my current obsession Scandal, it is important we approach it all with caution and a critical eye; most especially with media that is shaped by current realties and culture-like political thrillers.